05/02/2008

Race row - is it good for cricket?

Former Australia captain Mark Taylor says the Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds controversy is good for the promotion of cricket, at least in the short term.

 

''I guess it's detrimental in the short term but there's no doubt that controversy breeds news and people like me talk about it on TV. That is a promotion for the game and you could say maybe not the right promotion but it does promote the game. Hopefully in the long term it will bring more new spectators to the game and they'll stay with the game,''

 

I beg to differ. It is important to attract the right kind of followers. Unseemly controversies attract polarized followers who view the game through a prism of hatred, jingoism, racism and false national or regional pride.

 

What cricket wants is followers who view it as a refined sport, fans who spend money to watch Symonds /Harbhajan exhibit their skills, fans that come to applaud and not to throw bottles.

 

Your thoughts?

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